The Changing of Death
by Elen of the Sapphire Eyes
Summary: The world runs in cycles, and the changing of Death is only one of them. Yet to some, it is the most important one of them all.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Sorry, people, I don't own Harry Potter. **

Harry whispered, "I am about to die." And the golden sphere opened.

At that moment a strange feeling passed through him – something he didn't recognize – something implacable, and absolute, and so vastly alien as to make him worry for a single moment, for surely such a feeling could never have come from any human being. But then the knowledge that he was walking to his death filled his thoughts once more, and the feeling was forgotten.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1. **

Alone in his dorm room, with every other occupant either grieving or celebrating, Harry paced. He knew already that it wouldn't help, as he had been pacing for nearly an hour now, and the inexplicable uneasiness and urgency had only increased. But he paced nevertheless, because he didn't know what to do. Every fibre of his being urged him to go, right now – but he didn't know where to and anyways, after Hermione's very thorough chewing out over following a random unknown Patronus, he had promised himself he wouldn't go into any more potentially risky situations just because it felt right. But he was so bloody exhausted and he wanted to sleep, and the uneasiness and urgency were making his nerves prickle and the hair on the back of his neck stand up and how could he possibly sleep like that? He just wanted to sleep…

Harry's resolve abruptly broke. He disappeared from the dorm room with a nearly inaudible pop, with no destination in mind, just following his instincts. Had he been thinking rationally, of course, he would have known that he couldn't apparate in Hogwarts. But he wasn't – and perhaps this was a good thing, because if he had been thinking rationally, he would never have tried to break such a cardinal law, and he certainly would never have succeeded. It was the last impossible thing the Boy-Who-Lived would ever do in his life.

Barely a moment after disappearing from his dorm room, Harry appeared again. He was clutching a small stone in his hand. Without letting go of the stone, he fell onto his bed and was instantly fast asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

Harry did not have a peaceful rest.

Had anyone done an MRI scan on him at the moment, they would have been shocked by the results. Every neuron in Harry's brain was firing at once. No area was inactive as his entire brain rewrote itself. Some very basic parts such as the fight-or-flight response seemed to disappear entirely, while neuron patterns that had never been seen in any known living organism built themselves into his gray matter.

Nor was Harry's brain the only thing to change. Indeed, his brain's frantic attempt to keep up with the changes in his consciousness and soul would soon prove to be entirely futile, for Harry was slowly fading out. First the colour seemed to trickle out of him, and then the fade to invisibility began. It would soon be followed by a slow dissolve to intangibility.

By the time the first person entered the dorm, there was nothing where Harry had been lying but a strange, subtle wind and the faintest lingering trace of an unknown magic.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

It would be many, many years before Britain gave up on the belief that Harry Potter was still alive. The cause of his apparent death was never determined, but most believed that he had been kidnapped by an unknown Death Eater in revenge for the death of the Dark Lord. Only Hermione and Ron knew the truth, and they never told a soul. Even their children thought the two had no idea what had happened that night.

But they did. Oh, they did.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

When Ron and Hermione died and Death came to collect their souls, it took the effort to shape itself into a form for them. It didn't usually do this – it was very rare indeed for a soul to be exceptional enough to merit a seemingly real person to collect them. Certainly Ron and Hermione would not have been two such souls. But the faintest trace of _Harry_ still lingering was enough to influence it.

Neither Ron nor Hermione was surprised at the form that Death chose to take.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

Centuries later, three brothers stood in their ancestral home, surrounded by the trappings of a very serious ritual. They linked their hands together and chanted. The tallest brother cast an emerald green spell, and just as it hit the terrified woman in the middle of the circle, the brothers all shouted a single syllable together.

Trapped in the instant when it came to collect, Death took the effort to form itself into a visible shape. It wasn't surprised; it already knew what the three brothers wanted. After all, those who did not learn from history were doomed to repeat it. And this had already happened many times before.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.**

A young girl lay in her bed, tossing and turning. She clutched a stone in one hand and a wand in the other. Her rest was not peaceful, as her consciousness and soul were overwritten and her brain and body tried frantically to keep up…

And on another plane of existence, a young boy with messy, jet-black hair and piercing emerald eyes abruptly formed out of nothing. He looked around in shock and confusion at first, before slowly beginning to smile. Soon he was whooping in joy as he ran to find his two best friends.

**THE END**


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